Dubliners

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: Chris O'Dowd

Form-defining short stories.

First published in 1914, James Joyce defined what the short story could be with his collection Dubliners. A mixture of prose and poetry, each story can be listened to independently or as a collection. From childhood to maturity, we see what life - and ultimately death - can be, via an extraordinary cast of characters, all of whom experience an epiphany. There’s Father Flynn, the priest; Evelyn, the shop girl who dreams of escape; Mrs Mooney, the butcher’s daughter, who runs a boarding house.

Joyce described the stories as ‘a moral history of my country’. Written by a young Joyce, with the devastating potato famine still in living memory, he wanted to explore the reasons why a city and its occupants could be so paralysed. For the modern listener, the stories also provide a fascinating snapshot of early 20th-century life - from clay pipes to sixpences, petticoats to ginger beer. In your mind’s eye, walk round Stephen’s Green, wander down Grafton Street and over the River Liffey. You’ll never forget this city or its occupants.

The stories:

• 'The Sisters'
• 'An Encounter'
• 'Araby'
• 'Eveline'
• 'After the Race'
• 'Two Gallants'
• 'The Boarding House'
• 'A Little Cloud'
• 'Counterparts'
• 'Clay'
• 'A Painful Case'
• 'Ivy Day in the Committee Room'
• 'A Mother'
• 'Grace'
• 'The Dead'

Public Domain (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Brilliant performance

Mr. O’Dowd brought the Dubliners to life! Very moving and helped me appreciate Joyce’s writing to the fullest.

Melodic and Thought Provoking

This collection of short stories were a delight to listen to. Each prose gave a glimpse of life in early 20th century Dublin. James Joyce is a masterful writer and these stories will remain with me.

Chris O'Dowd's melodic narration brought the characters to life. I could imagine each person and their life and struggles. A brilliant performance.

The excellent and descriptive prose of Joyce read in an authentic Irish rendition.

Nothing to dislike; everything perfect…..I regret not reading it sooner when I was younger.

Minor Tragedies happen everyday

In fifteen vignettes of various lives, young and old, Joyce paints the melancholy and stagnation of a community. In the background is the city and society of Dublin in the early 1900s, as a setting but also its own character or being.

Each story felt like a minor tragedy, where the protagonist learns something important through mundane everyday settings but fails to follow through and act on it.

It’s interesting that more than 100 years later, the general isolation, discontentment and disconnect still seems to be the general case of life in a city.

By the end, one has to reflect on one’s owns epiphanies and failures to act and live the life one could live.

Dubliners narrated by Chris O’Dowd.

The Great James Joyce. Hard to write better than this. I have read Dubliners several times before, but I enjoyed Chris O’Dowd’s narration very much. I thought he read the stories as well as could be done. He understands the stories and adds just the right touch to the voices. This Audible presentation is really superb.